Four years after NSPRA and CoSN called for dedicated verification and reporting processes for schools, new platform initiatives offer signs of progress, but school communicators say important gaps remain.

In 2022, NSPRA and the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) joined forces to address a growing concern among school districts: the lack of dedicated processes for verifying official school social media accounts and reporting fraudulent or harmful content.

A joint report, Schools and Social Media: The Critical Need for Verification and Dedicated Reporting Processes, documented the challenges schools faced in protecting students, staff and their communities online. From impersonation accounts using district logos to posts that harassed or bullied students, school systems were spending valuable time navigating reporting processes that were not designed with educational institutions in mind.

Four years later, the social media landscape has evolved, and so have efforts to address these challenges.

What the 2022 Research Revealed

The original NSPRA and CoSN research highlighted the extent of the challenges facing school districts. Among survey respondents:

• 59% reported dealing with social media accounts that harassed, intimidated or bullied students.
• 51% reported encountering impersonation accounts using their organization's logos or branding.
• 45% reported that social media platforms had not removed accounts or posts reported for harassing, intimidating or bullying students.
• 25% reported that their organizations had applied for social media account verification within the previous two years and been rejected.

At the time, none of the major social media platforms contacted by NSPRA and CoSN offered verification or reporting processes dedicated specifically to K-12 educational institutions.

With support from national education association partners, NSPRA and CoSN engaged with representatives from Meta, Snapchat, TikTok, X (formerly known as Twitter), YouTube and LinkedIn to share these findings, better understand existing policies and explore potential solutions.

Several platforms expressed interest in addressing the challenges.

From Research to Advocacy and New Initiatives

Since the report's release, NSPRA and CoSN have continued advocating for solutions that recognize the unique needs of school districts.

In May and November 2024, the associations urged members of Congress to include provisions in the proposed Kids Online Safety Act that would require social media companies to prioritize free verification of official public school district accounts.

Meanwhile, developments at the platform level have offered encouraging signs of progress.

In 2025, Instagram launched its School Partnership Program for U.S. middle and high schools. The initiative introduced prioritized reporting of harmful content and digital profile banners identifying participating schools as official Instagram partners.

In September 2026, Meta announced an expansion of the program, which now includes nearly 17,000 U.S. schools. New features include additional communication tools for participating schools, such as Channels and Notes, along with school-related features designed to help verified students connect with their school communities.

While these developments address some of the needs identified in the original research, the experiences of school communicators underscore the importance of continued improvements.

Delaina McCormack, APR, manager of social media for Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, participated in an early pilot of Instagram's School Partnership Program beginning in August 2024. Her experience reporting problematic accounts has been mixed. Some were removed, while others were not, and the lack of email updates or a dedicated website made following up on reports difficult.

Her experience reinforces the importance of NSPRA and CoSN's continued advocacy for reporting processes that not only allow schools to flag harmful content but also provide clear follow-up on how concerns are addressed.

Emerging Challenges and the Importance of Preparedness

Beyond verification and reporting, evolving technologies are raising new questions about social media safety.

McCormack identified the potential use of student photos shared on social media to train artificial intelligence models as an emerging concern, reflecting broader questions about student privacy and how publicly shared content may be used.

She also emphasized the importance of establishing clear procedures for responding to concerning online activity.

For school communication teams, that means developing standard operating procedures for situations involving threats of violence, self-harm or allegations of illegal activity. McCormack recommends coordinating with school safety personnel, local law enforcement and student wellness professionals to establish appropriate response protocols and ensure staff understand what steps to take when concerning content appears.

As the social media landscape continues to evolve, these internal preparations remain an important complement to the tools and reporting processes offered by platforms.

Continuing the Work

The developments since 2022 reflect growing recognition of the distinct challenges schools face on social media. Yet continued challenges with harmful content, reporting processes and emerging technologies reinforce the need for ongoing engagement and advocacy.

NSPRA and CoSN remain committed to advancing solutions that help school districts maintain trusted online presences, protect students and staff and communicate effectively with their communities.

To support school communicators in navigating these issues, NSPRA has updated its Schools and Social Media resource page with information on platform verification and reporting processes, developments since the original report, and resources related to social media safety.

Explore the Schools and Social Media Resources